{"id":1342,"date":"2026-06-17T14:55:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/?p=1342"},"modified":"2026-06-17T14:55:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:55:36","slug":"us-iran-deal-shaped-through-backchannel-diplomacy-phased-de-escalation-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/us-iran-deal-shaped-through-backchannel-diplomacy-phased-de-escalation-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"US-Iran deal shaped through backchannel diplomacy, phased de-escalation talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ISLAMABAD<\/strong>: For a few hours in Tehran, the Qatari mediators allowed themselves to believe the worst might be over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After weeks of shuttling between two bitter foes, and an exhausting day of talks with Iranian officials, the small delegation saw a deal coming together that would include: an extended ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a framework for nuclear talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, as they prepared to fly back to Doha in the early hours of Thursday, US fighter jets hit Iranian targets in southern Iran. By the time the American bombing stopped, Iran was firing missiles and drones at US bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Qataris looked on from the tarmac. For almost seven hours, until 7am, they waited on the runway as the fragile diplomacy they had tried to foster risked unravelling at double speed. \u201cIt was a rollercoaster,\u201d said a person briefed on the talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The episode captured the central tension in a month-long diplomatic effort to keep the US and Iran from sliding back into war. Every time mediators appeared close to a breakthrough, another strike, threat or political intervention stymied their efforts to get the deal over the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one-page, 14-point memorandum of understanding being negotiated by Qatar and Pakistan was intended to extend the April 8 ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But getting it over the line meant bridging almost half a century of distrust, US President Donald Trump\u2019s unpredictability and impatience for a quick result, and Tehran\u2019s need for any compromise to look legitimate at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One diplomat said one of the biggest challenges for mediators was the difference in \u201cstyle\u201d, contrasting Trump\u2019s haste for a deal with Iran\u2019s need for \u201cprocess \u2014 weeks or years of negotiation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt needs for it [the deal] to be seen to be legitimate in the Iranian system, and that it did not just go and capitulate,\u201d the diplomat said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018piece of garbage\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One crucial turning point came in mid-May. Talks had floundered after the April 8 ceasefire and a follow-up meeting in Islamabad led by US vice-president JD Vance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truce appeared to be unravelling, with Trump warning that it was on \u201cmassive life support\u201d and describing Iran\u2019s latest proposal as a \u201cpiece of garbage\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The risk of a return to war was rising despite back-channel negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within a few days, Washington asked Qatar to step up. Until then Doha had been playing a supporting role to Pakistan, the surprise choice to lead the mediation, alongside Egypt and Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qatar had carved out a role as one of Washington\u2019s preferred channels to adversaries from Hamas to the Taliban and Venezuela\u2019s Bolivarian regime. When the war started, Qatar, like other Gulf states, was targeted by Iran, and had taken a back seat in the diplomatic push to end the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after Trump\u2019s warning that the ceasefire was on the brink of collapse, the Qatari delegation, led by veteran mediators Ali al-Thawadi and Hamad al-Kubaisi, headed to Tehran, flying via Turkey in order to keep the mission secret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan, newer to the mediation role, brought its own access to Trump\u2019s circle after helping secure the April truce, which was followed by the highest-level direct talks between Iran and the US since 1979.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trust problem<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overriding problem for the mediators was attempting to build even rudimentary trust between the two sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iranians \u201cwere very suspicious\u201d of Trump\u2019s intentions, people briefed on the talks said. Iran was twice attacked by the US and Israel when in the midst of talks \u2014 first before Israel\u2019s 12-day June war last year and again when the US and Israel strikes launched the latest conflict on February 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey felt like this is another precursor to attacks\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009that the Americans keep shifting positions, that there\u2019s no real commitment,\u201d said the person briefed on the talks. \u201cAnd so part of the mediators\u2019 job was building that trust.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time the delegation departed Tehran in mid-May, the mediators felt confident they had a good proposal that had the buy-in of US officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that optimism was dashed, however, when they were informed as they left Iran that Trump was considering striking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a bid to keep the diplomacy on track, Qatari, Saudi and Emirati leaders called the US president, telling him the mediators were close to a deal and urging him to keep his finger off the trigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump heeded their counsel. He posted that same day that he had suspended an attack on Iran scheduled for the following day as \u201cserious negotiations were now\u201d taking place with Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next morning, Tuesday May 19, the Qatar delegation flew to Washington to brief Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president\u2019s son-in-law, having spent months working with the last two on Trump\u2019s plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negotiating against the Trump clock<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Trump set a deadline. The US president made it clear to the mediators that he needed the Iranian response by the weekend or he would not hold back on attacks. The Qataris and Pakistani negotiators prepared to head back to Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But again, the threat of renewed war hung over the mission. The night before mediators were expected in Tehran, the Qataris and the Pakistanis were informed by two western states that Israel was considering striking Iran later that week, two people briefed on the matter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qatari officials frantically called the US and other allies to secure guarantees that Israel would not attack while their team was in Tehran, one of the people said. When those assurances came, they returned to Iran, landing in Tehran on the morning of Friday May 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mediators spent hours locked in discussions with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran\u2019s top negotiator, and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi as they haggled over the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key issues were Iran\u2019s demand for a commitment to permanently end the war; securing assurances that Tehran would discuss with the US handing over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium; and the fate of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both sides felt they had the upper hand. Iran had effectively closed the strait after the US and Israel ignited the war on February 28, causing the worst global energy crisis in decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emboldened by its newfound leverage, it had been insisting that it would charge a fee to ships passing the chokepoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to get a deal over the line, the mediators needed to convince Iran to set that demand aside, at least for the 60-day ceasefire extension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan\u2019s military chief, landed in Tehran on that same Friday evening to add to the push. \u201cThe Pakistanis were well briefed and the face of the process, thanks to the field marshal\u2019s relationship with Trump, but the Qataris quietly did most of the heavy lifting to bridge the two sides,\u201d said one western diplomat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump had repeatedly insisted that Iran would have to hand over its stockpile of 440kg uranium enriched close to weapons-grade level. Iran finally agreed to commit to discuss diluting the uranium or handing over the stockpile before the Qatari delegation left in the early hours of Saturday May 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In return, the US agreed to a phased process of sanctions relief that would be dependent on the progress of talks towards a final deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Saturday evening, Trump said that a deal had \u201clargely been negotiated\u201d and would \u201cbe announced shortly\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the parties continued to haggle. Ghalibaf and Araghchi travelled to Doha for yet more talks with Qatari mediators on Monday May 25, along with the Iranian central bank governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Iranians are very diligent negotiators; they check every word and negotiate the meaning of it,\u201d said one of the people briefed on the talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even after that, the Iranians did not sign off on the agreement as expected. Frustrated with the delay, the Trump administration amended language related to the details of reopening the strait and nuclear issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israel complication<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a bid to keep the diplomatic process on track, the Qatari mediators got back on a plane \u2014 this time to Miami where they spent a day in talks with Witkoff and Kushner. Their aim was to underline the urgency of getting a deal completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 6, Pakistan\u2019s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi, a close Munir confidant, was in Tehran on his fourth trip since the war started, carrying a letter for Iran\u2019s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But worse was to come. Israel\u2019s premier Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to bomb Hizbollah targets in Beirut, escalating the conflict with the Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iranian media reported that Tehran, which has insisted that conflict be included in its ceasefire with the US, had suspended talks with Washington as a result on June 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That caused Trump to get on the phone to Netanyahu that Monday afternoon and deliver his partner in the war an expletive-laden tongue-lashing. That seemed to calm the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the following weekend, Israel and Iran exchanged fire for the first time since the April 8 truce, after Israeli forces launched strikes against a building in southern Beirut, a stronghold of Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant movement that is Iran\u2019s most important proxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tit-for-tat ended after Trump intervened saying Israel and Hizbollah had agreed the \u201cshooting will stop\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Apache setback<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One potential deal-breaker had been dealt with, and on Tuesday last week the mediators again thought they were on the verge of a deal. But another quickly emerged after Trump blamed Iran for shooting down a US Apache helicopter the previous night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crew was rescued and Iran signalled it was a mistake, but Trump said he had to respond. It prompted two consecutive overnight exchanges of fire \u2014 including the clash that left the Qatari mediators stranded at the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the Qataris had returned to Doha, a regional push was made to convince Trump a good deal was almost finalised and to hold off on further strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Pakistani and Arab diplomats, Qatar\u2019s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Pakistan\u2019s powerful military chief all put in calls to the US leader to urge him against more attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump began his Thursday threatening more strikes and warning that American troops could seize Kharg Island, Iran\u2019s main oil export hub. But within hours, he said the final points of a deal with Tehran had been approved by \u201call parties\u201d in what he called \u201ca great settlement of the war\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the week of skirmishes, the diplomacy continued in the background, with lower-level US and Iranian officials holding talks in Doha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But on Friday, Trump, who had spent the week oscillating between saying a deal was close and venting his frustration at Iran, furiously claimed Tehran was distorting the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It again raised fears that he would attack just as mediators were preparing for a preliminary signing in Switzerland over the weekend. \u201cThe biggest obstacle to the deal had been the negative media and lobbying campaigns against the deal by both sides,\u201d said the person familiar with the talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final push<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was after Trump said on Saturday the MoU would be signed on the Sunday that Qatari negotiators returned to Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that point Israel struck Beirut again \u2014 prompting another angry call from Trump, saying the strike \u201cshould not have happened\u201d given it was responding to a \u201cvery small and meaningless\u201d strike by Hizbollah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crucially, he added that there should be no more attacks by Israel \u201canywhere in Lebanon\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Qataris, for their part, were attempting to convince the Iranians not to retaliate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They spent 17 hours in Tehran, at one point pausing to watch a football match at the World Cup in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At another point, the Qataris threatened to walk away after the Iranians continued to push for tweaks to the language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Qataris warned that if a deal was not agreed before Trump went into the UFC event at the White House to celebrate his 80th birthday, they risked facing further American strikes the following day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was the first leader who announced a deal had been reached just before 1am Tehran time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was very intense,\u201d the person briefed on the talks said. \u201cIt was exhausting, but there was relief. It\u2019s like when you finish a marathon, you are fully exhausted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s cautious optimism \u2014 there\u2019s still five days until the signing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courtesy: Financial Times<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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